Category: The Power of Patience

Someone once said that patience is not about the ability to wait, it’s about the attitude that you have while you are waiting. That was very wise. So often we fret when we are held up in traffic and while waiting in line so try, instead, to practice patience by deep breathing and using your imagination to think of good things. Practice self-control and don’t speak negatively because so often “what you say is what you get!”

“Stop and smell the flowers” is a good phrase to remember. Make a decision to spend quality time with your family and friends and think of an act of kindness you can do for someone. Make it a point to remember birthdays and to keep in touch with a friend who is ill or having difficulties. When you think of others you realise you are not the only one experiencing the stresses of life; that change is inevitable and bad things will end and good things happen.

Reclaim your time by learning to trust your capacity to deal with whatever comes your way in life, by re-evaluating your priorities and changing your response to life’s pressures. Make the choice to slow down, take control of your life and be proactive, not reactive.

Take the time to harness the power of patience in your life. It will bring you mental wholeness, emotional stability and physical wellness and it will change your perspective of life.

There are three main parts to the total health of the individual. They consist of physical health, emotional health and mental health and all these areas can be impacted by an inability to handle stress. As mentioned earlier, stress is a major component of our lives because of the demands of our society and it is up to us, individually, to learn to handle the stresses we experience. Stress increases health risks and needs to be dealt with constructively and patiently. Yet, many people do not understand the consequences of stress derived from having a lack of patience over long periods of time.

One major cause of stress is change because we are creatures of habit and we like to be able to control any situation in which we find ourselves. Yet change is an integral part of today’s society so, somehow, we have to find a way to handle it. Many people waste energy worrying about future events before they happen so, often, the good things of the present are missed. Employing patience allows you to let go of worries, especially those things you are unable to control and to look at change in a positive light.

Impatience is a leading cause of stress which lowers the body’s resistance to illness and disease. It weakens the immune system, irritates the stomach, raises blood pressure, strains the heart and causes pain in the neck and back. Some research studies have determined stress to be a cause of cancer (American Institute of Stress, 2007) and it can also lead to alcohol and drug abuse.

Impatience also causes fretting, excessive fatigue, poor concentration, loss of control over situations and irritability.

It follows then that building patience within you, amongst other things, can lead to better health. It is never too late to master the art of patience and as you practice it you will gradually develop the right habits to make it second nature. Try to deal with stress as it happens before it becomes a problem. Take ten deep breaths to relax your body and be open to suggestions from others as you look for solutions.

When everything moves so quickly in our world, patience can seem hard to come by. Many see it as a rare character trait. We have all lost our patience at some point, and circumstances and people can sometimes make it difficult to remain patient. You can do some thing about it, however, because you have the choice to practice patience or to go about your life in an uncontrolled manner, living your life in the fast lane, stressing out and losing your temper at the slightest provocation. Patience gives you self control and so reduces stress and anger and allows you to be at peace in all areas of your life.

With so much busyness in their lives, people gather around patient friends like bees around a honey pot. Those who practice patience usually have a serenity about them that others crave. They give love easily and they are kind and accepting of any others. More especially, they take time to listen to what others say and are not always interrupting. They rule their tongue and so remain in control of themselves. Patient people generally are able to master their moods and govern their emotions. In so doing they harness negative energy and utilise it for good. They let peace reign in their heart and mind so disquiet is lessened and brought into proper perspective and the atmosphere around them is pleasant and
restful.

Day by day we seem to be always dealing with tense situations. Humour, used properly and with patience, can diffuse difficult situations. When you can see a situation through the eyes of another it dissipates impatience and you are able to maintain your own dignity and integrity. Patience engenders respect from others and allows you to find solutions.

It is interesting that the Chinese character for ‘problem’ and ‘opportunity’ are the same, so it seems the Chinese see problems as opportunities. Many of the world’s discoveries and break through came about people insisting on seeing past the problem and determinedly believing that a solution could be found. Then, with patience and persistence the breakthrough came.

Make the choice to give yourself the gift of patience. Don’t allow your inner self to be disrupted by what goes on around you. If you remain in control you can master your emotions and you will realize you are greater on the inside than anything you face on the outside.

 

Any successful businessman or entrepreneur will tell you they never rush into a decision. They will research, study and think about what they should be doing and they will wait for the right moment to make a quick decision. Like the seed put into the ground, to achieve success you have to practice patience. That doesn’t mean sitting around doing nothing. Success in business doesn’t happen overnight. Creating a business and making it a success requires patience and a lot of work. It means laying the foundation, building the right framework and putting all the right elements in place so that you make the right decisions that will propel you to success. That takes time and patience.

Impatience is very dangerous in the workplace. It distracts you from thinking clearly and actually slows down work that has to be done. Instead of concentrating on your work and being clear about what has to be done, impatience will cause you thinking to become cloudy and you may miss vital information. Impatience may also provoke you to anger but a bad temper doesn’t change anything for the better; it may just cause you to take longer to reach your goal and in the process, you may have ruffled a lot of feathers along the way and lost the respect of those you work with. It certainly doesn’t make for a happy atmosphere. Relationships take time to build and improve and being impatient is a sure way to end them.

There is a saying, “The hurrieder I go, the behinder I get!” We all laugh when we hear it but, Oh! isn’t it true. When you are frantically trying to finish something, that is the time you will make the most mistakes, then you have to go back over everything and fix the errors. It is far better to pace yourself and patiently check your work as you go along lest emotions get the better of you.

If your work is getting on top of you, practice humility and ask for help; then be appreciative when that help is forthcoming. Help may not be immediately available, however, and some may have no desire to give you any support. Nevertheless, give people the opportunity to assist you then, when they are in need, you will be able to return the favour. There is always a way around every difficulty if only you allow patience to do its perfect work and keep your clarity of vision.

In order to excel at whatever you do and achieve success, employ patience and you will have a practical tool for self-control, persistence and higher quality work.

When you are working to achieve your goal, whether it is a work goal or a private goal, patience must be paramount.  Lack of patience is a major reason that people don’t achieve their goals; they give up too easily. In fact, the more impatient they get further away they seem to push themselves from achieving their goal. Instead, mentally plant your feet firmly in the direction you want to go with an unshakable determination to stick to your plans and patiently and without rushing, follow them until you reach your goal. Remind yourself that the process takes time and when you reach small goals on the way to your main goal, celebrate your achievements. They will give you the impetus and continued patience to continue your journey. Patience gives you persistence– stickability – the ability to work undistractedly toward your goal.

Remind yourself, also, that you are learning valuable lessons along the way. You are learning to be consistent and persistent and you are also learning how to handle obstacles and problems in a calm and serene manner. These skills will serve you well in all areas of your life. Bear in mind, it takes time to hone skills and as you improve them you will gain experience which you can only achieve over time.

Remember also to be patient with yourself. No journey constantly smooth and you may become discouraged or disheartened and want to throw in the towel. If you spend some quiet time on your own every now and again you will be able to deal with the doubts that may assail you. Remain aware that everyone comes up against obstacles at some time and these are not good reasons to give up. Uncertainties and disappointments are part of the process of success. Remind yourself of your objectives and reinforce your determination to succeed. Patience will give you stickability. Remain calm and definite about what you are doing and focus on the end result.

 

Patience and time are twins. Jean de la Fontaine once said, “Patience and the passage of time do more than strength and fury.”

That passage contains wisdom and wisdom comes with mental and emotional maturity. It is saying that the quietness, humility, gentleness and forbearance of patience produces peace and love and, over the passage of time, is far more powerful than brute strength and unrestrained anger.

When you feel you are drowning in a sea of people and technology it is important to slow down and be patient for a moment or two. In a world that wants everything yesterday, it means drawing back from the frenetic pace of life and taking time to be alone so your mind and body can enjoy quietness and stillness for a while. Spend a little of the most valuable commodity any one of us has – time – and appreciate things as they are. Take advantage of the downtime and the discipline of patience to observe yourself, identify problems, work out solutions and appreciate the relaxation that solitude brings. Often, the root of the problem is identified and a solution found. Many a difficulty has been swept away when you are placid, without the stress that would normally be part of your life. Quiet times provide a way of reorganising your time and rebuilding patience. The process will take its time but you are less likely to react to everything life throws at you when you are able to remain calm in the face of difficulties.

We have an inherent tendency to want things immediately, when we want or need them. There is, however, a law of sowing and reaping which says we must first plant, generally in winter, allow the plants to grow strong and tall through spring rains, guarding them against weeds and insect attacks and patiently waiting until the conditions are right and it is time for the harvest in summer. It does the farmer no good to dig up the seed the day after planting to see if the seed is growing and it will do no good to harvest the crop too early, for if that happens, the crop must be ploughed back into the soil and the farmer will need to wait until planting time comes around to begin again. Without all the effort of planting, watering and nurturing, the seed cannot develop roots, appear above the ground and grow to maturity; and it cannot do it in a day – it takes time and the right elements before it can produce its own seed.

If you have done your part, with patience and through rough times, results will appear at the right time; that is a natural law. It is your attitude of patience and understanding, moulded over time, which will see you through.

If you want to lose weight, it will take time, probably a month or so. If you want to swim 1500 metres it will take time to get fit enough to try it and a lot of patience swimming up and down the pool day after day until you know you are ready. If you want to change your life in any major way, it will take time. Time and patience are critical elements of success.

Patience is a virtue not often practiced in society today. We are more familiar with impatience, agitation, exasperation, irritation and fretfulness. These emotions, unfortunately, have become a major element of humankind and a significant cause of stress – the fastest growing illness in society today. Why is it that patience evaporates when we are late for an engagement and when we are caught in a traffic jam? We become impatient very quickly if we have to wait in a queue or when someone else is served before us when we were there first. Being forced to wait heightens the stress and shortens our fuse. This malady permeates every area of our life from office arguments to arguing with our spouse and children.

We seem to spend our lives rushing around and we expect everyone around us to keep up with us. Meyer Friedman called it “hurry sickness”; we call it impatience. The dangerous side of impatience shows itself in road rage and other forms of violence where people have been injured and in some instances, killed, because they got in someone else’s way. Bursts of impatience only demonstrate we are more concerned with our own agendas than the needs and efforts of others, so perhaps we should learn to take a breath, count to ten and turn our focus away from ourselves by patiently caring for others in the midst of stress.

There was a film, some years ago, called “Stop the World I Want to Get Off” and with the world moving at an ever faster pace and becoming more complex with technology most of us want to get off this crazily moving train, even for a few minutes, to gather our thoughts, remember who we are and learn to cope, before boarding it again.

Ultimately we pay a price for being impatient. The surges of irritation and anger directed at people or circumstances eventually raise blood pressure and can result in illness. In the long run we hurt ourselves by not practicing patience. The benefits of patience include making better decisions, reducing stress and anger, increasing peace of mind and enjoying happiness.

A Chinese proverb says, “Patience is power; with time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown.”

Defining Patience
A general definition of patience is “The ability to bear trials without grumbling”.

Bishop Horne in his Discourses on Several Subjects and Occasions Patience Portrayed has encapsulated the essence of patience quite beautifully. He says:
“Patience is the guardian of faith, the preserver of peace, the cherisher of love, the teacher of humility; Patience governs the flesh, strengthens the spirit, sweetens the temper, stifles anger, extinguishes envy, subdues pride; she bridles the tongue, refrains the hand, tramples upon temptations … Patience produces harmony in families and societies; she comforts the poor and moderates the rich; she makes us humble in prosperity, cheerful in adversity … she teaches us to forgive those who have injured us and to be the first in asking forgiveness of those whom we have injured; she delights the faithful, and invites the unbelieving; she adorns the woman and approves the man; is loved in a child, praised in a young man, admired in an old man; she is beautiful in either sex and every age.”

Patience is the picture of a tranquil spirit and such a spirit is in great demand in our society today. Such people have a listening ear when everyone else is trying to talk at once and a soft answer when an argument is pending.